That pressure was from an O line that still is missing the entire right side.

A few things that stood out to me:

-The defensive line was much improved against the run. Clearly having Patrick Willis and the entire D Line tells me that they will be fine.

-Ian Williams looked surprisingly good coming off the injury.

- Mike Purcell was better

-Jimmy Ward was pretty good. Seemed to be in more control.

-Same for Borland

-Bruce Ellington on the jet sweep!!!!!!! 5 touches a game for this guy!!!!

-Gabbert wasn't great, but compared to what we saw the past 2 weeks, this was great.

-Super disappointed that Brandon Lloyd saw virtually no action. I really think this guy can help the team and think he should make the squad, but after yesterday I doubt he makes it.

-This team will be fine. We have to remember that they play both Denver and SD in the regular season so we were not going to see anything special from the team in these weeks. If the offense struggles look for them to line up and pound the ball. Play the time of possession game._________________

NextBigThing wrote:

rice wasn't close to do as good as his stats would lead one to assume

okie dokie!!! He only had 1200 rec yards at 40, but he clearly isnt as good as it appears.

If Winston has another impressive game on Thursday, does he take James spot on the roster?

Ellington is already better as a returner. Even Patton and Miller have had good returns this preseason. And for all the talk about Kaep and Iupati, James was definitely one of the worst players on the field today. Even in the return game he looked very tentative.

I wish Winston would take his spot. Not going to happen, though. I see Winston as our new Dixon, at best.

I know some people are still high on James; still waiting for that breakout. I just don't see it happening. James, as a running back, is no better than Jewel Hampton. He doesn't fight for yards. He didn't even try to turn the corner going to the outside. Two guys waiting for him or not, every single one of our other backs would have fought for an extra yard or two instead of just running out of bounds. He goes down on first contact and he couldn't evade a paraplegic to save his life. He's just not good as a downhill/bruiser runner. Throw him the ball? He's average to above average. Decent(below "good") hands. He's quick, but not fast, if that makes any sense. He just doesn't fit on this team. Winston does, and it's sad that James will take a spot on our roster.....again. Whining for playing time to get stuffed at the line....every...single...time.

And, yeah, everyone seems to do a better job than James on returning. But, that's also usually been with 2nd/3rd stringers on special teams. Still....

Speaking of returning, has anyone else noticed that we've placed Miller back there with James a few times? I don't think I've ever seen our team do that in the Harbaugh era. Usually, we have one guy back there to return. If we do have two, they're on the other side of the field, just in case. But, I've never seen two guys within 10 feet of each other. Miller caught it one time and James nearly ran into him trying to catch the ball. That's not a communication problem, that's an ego problem. Miller wasn't in back of him or to the side. He was off to the side a little bit and directly in from of James. Does anyone know the reason they're doing this? Just a different scheme they're trying to simulate what it would be like for a running back to have a full back blocking for him on a return? Because, to the casual fan, it almost looks like they have someone there to clean up/block if there's a muffed catch or something._________________

- Carter Bykowski had a 1.0+ pass block grade for the 3rd straight week. I wonder if he makes the 53 man roster?

Adding on to this... Bykowski is PFF's top rated pass blocking LT through 3 weeks. He has only given up 1 sack, hit, or hurry in 72 pass blocking attempts. I really wouldn't be shocked if he makes the roster._________________